After saying goodbye to to our friends we continued down the coast. David and  Christine joined us. The 4 lanes motorway eventually gave way to a 2 lanes road snaking along between the Ocean and the mountains. We stopped first at Jervis bay for coffee in town. It was busy. The nearby campsite did not have a cabin for the Dowdens. Further down in Ulladulla we found a great spot on the cliff above the bay. D&C booked into a nearby motel and came over for drinks and BBQ. We finished off the leftovers from the reunion. The caravan park is spacious and has many large trees for shelter and lots of laughing kookaburra and other birds as well.

At 9:30 we left for a drive up the mountain range to Canberra the capital of Australia. The first section following the coast south was through large patches of gumtree forrest. Tall bark-less trees stood tall along the road. The undergrowth is often ferns which covered the ground. Close to Batemans Bay we turned west to climb up through the mist to a high plateau between 700 and 800 m. The landscape changed to rolling hills covered with grass where cattle and horses grazed. The small towns are less touristy than on the coast except Braidwood. 14 km outside Canberra we found a campsite that also had cabins for Dave and Christine. After lunch we went into town and visited the Parlement building as well as the National gallery. The city is very modern and well designed. The centre point is Parlement with around it various modern museums.

Our first stop driving south from Canberra was Namadgi NP just outside the city. Some 16 km inside the park we had a lovely walk crossing several times a small stream in the hilly countryside. The hills are covered with grass and here and there some old trees. There was not many cattle in the fields. So it was not clear what the land is used for. Back on the main road we drove further south and climbed to over 1000m to Jindabyne. This is in the winter a ski resort and today you see many cars/campers with mountain bikes. Again we found a campsite and the Dowdens a cabin. We had a farewell meal in a local restaurant in town center and later finished the leftover Cointreau in the cabin. In the morning we said goodbye to David and Christine. They are on the way to Sydney to catch tomorrow a plane back to New Zealand. We were all likeminded spirits and had a good time together. See you someday in Assen.